Last week in prison, our participants had a busy week that included our CEO Bert Smith delivering a lecture on Investments, a test on the Human Resources Management chapter from “Entrepreneurship: A Small Business Approach,” a continuation of their prior discussions on the Harvard MBA Case Study on Enron led by our Governing Board Chairman Mike Humphrey and another section of the Employment Workshop.

The latter is focused on helping them to find a job and build a career once they are released; while nearly 30% of our graduates eventually start their own business, almost all of them focus on finding a job as soon as they are released. We believe that our entrepreneurship boot camp is a strong preparation for their careers, since many will end up working in a small business for an entrepreneur. Our graduates’ understanding of what it takes to build and grow a successful small business makes them stand out as employees, which is why 100% of our recent graduates have landed a job within 90 days of release from prison.

This week, our participants will continue the Employment Workshop inside the prison. They also have their first tests over Part 1 & Part 2 of their reading of “Crime and Punishment” by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. This week, we also have two courses on World History that our men will complete in addition to their regular work with Toastmasters, Men’s Life and Leadership Development.

But the apex of the week arrives on Friday, when nearly 70 business leaders will join us in prison to for the Class 19 Pitch Day! Participants deliver their business plan presentations as a practice session before the Business Plan Competition. We tell our judges to “Get ready to be impressed!”

Our executive volunteers will ask tough questions and provide feedback that will prepare these men to make the final improvements in their business plans before the finals on June 7!